Emmy Rossum's standoff has met its end — the actress will continue her work on Shameless. The actress tweeted that she will begin shooting in May.
"Playing Fiona Gallagher has been one of the great privileges of my life. I'm so happy to continue w my SHAMELESS family! Back to work in May!" she writes.
This indicates that Showtime has met Rossum's demands. The actress was negotiating for a higher salary than her co-star William H. Macy as reparations for years of lower pay.
This story was originally published on December 9, 2016.
Shameless star Emmy Rossum wants salary parity with her co-star William H. Macy, according to The Hollywood Reporter. As the cast and crew prepare to shoot season 8 of the Showtime series, Rossum is in a standoff with the network. The actress allegedly doesn't just want equal pay, she'd like a higher salary than Macy, as a reparation of sorts for years past when Rossum received lower pay. The 66-year-old actor and screen veteran also apparently just negotiated for a raise, so it would seem Rossum is due for her own pay bump.
Macy plays the Gallagher patriarch, Frank, in the hit series — arguably, as the head of the family, the Wild Hogs actor leads the cast, and therefore deserves a higher salary. However, Rossum's character Fiona often serves as the show's protagonist, especially as Frank descends into a lawless existence.
Next to Homeland, Shameless is one of Showtime's major cash cows. This type of salary drama usually occurs when television shows reach peak profit. In 1997, Seinfeld's Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Richards, and Jason Alexander had a standoff of their own — the three demanded the same pay as Jerry Seinfeld himself. More and more, though, these negotiations focus on the gender wage gap. As THR points out, Robin Wright of House of Cards made a similar demand in May of 2016. She asked for the same salary as her male co-star, Kevin Spacey.
"I was looking at the statistics," she said at the time. "And Claire Underwood's character was more popular than [Frank's] for a period of time. So I capitalized on it. I was like, 'You better pay me or I’m going to go public.' And they did."
Here's hoping Showtime meets Rossum's demands. As Shameless is a popular show, Showtime has a vested interest in keeping Fiona Gallagher around. And it's on everyone in the industry to help close the gender pay gap. (Jennifer Lawrence, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Meryl Streep agree.)
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